Instagram Gaming Content Opportunity Analysis™ Q1 2022

Key Takeaways

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The Gaming & eSports industry can find content opportunities in Q1 2022 from:

Squid Game on MC & Roblox: Showing how gamers are engaging in games designed to replicate scenarios from the TV show ‘Squid Game’.

Online to IRL: Gamers take concepts built into games and try them out in different scenarios in the real world such as trying new Halo modes as football plays on the pitch.

Celebrity Recreations: Creators will replicate their favourite celebrities and characters to play with within the game.

Celebration Dances: Streaming successful plays and subsequently sharing their character’s celebration dances within the game.

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Data Collection Methodology

1. ‍Measure & Categorize. Sample a large number of social posts to find ones that are significantly outperforming the average.‍
2. Identify Top Themes. Identify the themes that are resonating most with the audience by sorting the themes by their aggregated performance metrics.‍
3. Measure Saturation. Identify content themes that are already oversaturated with a heavy posting cadence.‍
4. Identify Whitespace. Look at the data and find the content themes that are both resonating with the audience and not oversaturated with a heavy posting cadence.‍
5. Repeat For Each Platform. Repeat the analysis for every platform that matters to your brand and audience to find platform-specific opportunities. 

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Instagram is currently an oversaturated channel for Gaming & eSports brands to reach their audience in Q1 2022, according to RightMetric’s Digital Whitespace Map™ Analysis.

To see other channel whitespace opportunities for Q1 2022, see the Gaming & eSports Digital Whitespace Map™ → 

To see content opportunities on Instagram, continue reading.

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Instagram content the audience has been the most interested in Q1 2022 includes:

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While the majority of Instagram content in the gaming space has focused on:

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The gaming Instagram content whitespace opportunities include:

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Content to avoid due to low attention and high competitor saturation in the gaming space include:

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Whitespace Opportunities:

#1. Squid Game on MC & Roblox

Recreating Popular Culture. This category features videos that show how gamers are engaging in games designed to replicate scenarios from the hit TV show ‘Squid Game’.

Tactics to Implement:

• Against the Norm: Gamers try to include themselves trying out different tactics to complete the games in unexpected ways. For example, sprinting through ‘Red Light. Green Light’ where players are supposed to stay still.
  

• Notable Moments: Gamers capture obscure moments with other players. These have high comedic value and usually show the downside of bad decisions made by fellow players. These additions add an element of surprise to keep the viewer engaged. This video promises to show all the game versions of Squid Game and condenses it down to the best clips for viewer reactions. 

213K Views

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207K Views

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#2. Online to IRL

Making Connections. Gamers take concepts built into games and try them out in different scenarios in the real world.

Tactics to Implement:

• Game Modes: When the new Halo game came out, some gamers who are also football players took to creating football challenges based on all the new game modes.
  

• Into the Everyday: Using a voice over to explain what he is doing, a creator took the concept of reloading video game weapons but in an everyday context for household items.

384K Views

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115K Views

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#3. Celebrity Recreations

It’s All About the References. Specifically in Fortnite, creators will replicate their favourite celebrities and characters to use to play with within the game. 

Tactics to Implement:

• Short & Sweet: These videos tend to be about 11-12 seconds long. They try to focus on the elements of the character that represent the person they’re referencing.
  

• Bringing in Pop Culture: Viewers are interested in the ability to bring their favourite references to life in the world or reality of their gameplay. For example,  Fortnite allows people to get Spiderman skins while also being able to fly around the space as he does in the movies. 

212K Views

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195K Views

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#4. Celebration Dances

Celebrating Accomplishments. Gamers have been filming successful and strong plays then subsequently sharing their character’s celebration dances within the game.

Tactics to Implement:

• Use the Caption for Context: Creators are using their captions to reference why they are celebrating their wins or as a way to keep people watching until the end of the video such as “Had to hit it at the end”.
  

• Showing Personality: These videos give creators a chance to share their personalities in their chosen celebration method. Giving viewers something to laugh and relate with helps form a strong community.  

103K Views

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449K Views

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Content Bucket Definitions

• Celebration Dances: Streaming successful plays and subsequently sharing their character’s celebration dances within the game.
  
  
• Celebrity Recreations: Creators replicating their favourite celebrities and characters to play with within the game.
  
  
• Celebrating Wins: Recorded reactions of gamers celebrating tournament wins post-competition.
  
  
• Fortnite Comedy: Specific moments from Fortnite that are unusual and funny.
  
  
• Funny Glitches in Games: Gamers showing their favourite outtakes from glitches they noticed while streaming.
  
  
• Gamer Reactions: When a clip of a game stream is more focused on a funny reaction from a player than the play itself.
  
  
• Group Plays: Videos that show the reactions of more than one player as they play with or against each other.   
  
  
• Livestream Fails: Recorded moments in gaming livestreams gone wrong.
  
  
• New Features: Uncovering and sharing all the details on new features within updated games.
  
  
• Online to IRL: Gamers taking concepts built into games and trying them out in different scenarios in the real world.
  
  
• POI Nostalgia: Gamers making videos honoring or remembering their favourite POIs (Point of Interest) from different games.
  
  
• Relatable Content: Memes and references that relate specifically to the lives of gamers.
  
  
• Squid Game on MC & Roblox: Gamers on Minecraft and Roblox recreated the games from the hit Netflix show, Squid Game.
   
• Strong Plays: Gamers sharing clips of top plays in their preferred games.
  
  
• Tag Someone If...: Memes, funny recorded moments and relatable content that asks viewers to tag others who can understand the gaming joke.
  
  
• Unusual Solutions: Gamers getting creative to solve a problem they are having in a game.